Grietens seeks entrepreneurs’ input on how to make Missouri more innovative
July 25, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is seeking input from the Show Me State’s entrepreneurs, investors on how the state can foster more innovation.
In June, Greitens launched a task force to spur startup activity and innovation in the State of Missouri. Over the past month, the Innovation Task Force hosted a handful of workshops throughout the state.
During a workshop in Springfield this month, Greitens shared his vision for Missouri.
“Our mission is to make Missouri the leader in innovation and entrepreneurship between the east and west coasts,” Greitens said in a statement.
The task force is asking Missourians to offer feedback on the state’s innovation efforts by participating in an online focus group and survey, which they can access by clicking here. The state is also turning to social media to engage constituents with the hashtag #MOInnovationTF.
“This is not a theoretical exercise just to bring people together to talk. We need to have action,” Missouri chief operating officer Drew Erdmann said in a release. “We know (the governor announced) an ambitious goal. But when you look at our assets across the state, though, we really do have the potential to achieve it.”
Some of those assets include industries such as agriculture, health and biology technology, according to the online focus group.
With support from the nonpartisan Hawthorn Foundation, the task force is currently preparing policy recommendations that aim to prop up Missouri as a prime destination for tech startups. It will also give an overall assessment of innovation in the Show Me State and analyze other states to glean best practices.
Rob Dixon, the director for the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said the effort is a piece of the broader economic development strategy in the Show Me State.
“Missouri is home to many large and successful global corporations that started small, right here by innovators and entrepreneurs,” Dixon said in a release. “We want to systematically encourage and help the next generations of these businesses grow.”
The final workshop in the series will be held in Cape Girardeau July 31. The task force will complete its work by the end of August.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Why this KC social entrepreneur pivoted from drilling wells with Matt Damon to tapping micro-loans for water projects
Identifying unmet needs is just as critical for social entrepreneurs as their counterparts at more traditional for-profit ventures, said Gary White, explaining how Water.org needed to find its missing piece to truly tap the non-profit’s potential. “Go after those unique insights at the intersection of a great social gain and a market,” said White, offering…
Newly relaunched PR platform connects small brands to freelance journalists eager to tell their stories
Blish Mize Connor and Allison Hogan are working to change the landscape of the public relations game, they shared, starting with firing themselves. The PR veterans — with a combined 35 years of experience — have launched DeskSides, a dual-sided digital hub to connect brands with journalists/freelancers. “We were tired of traveling and schlepping goods…
US company lands on the moon: Here’s how a KC firm helped boost its flames of innovation
For the first time ever, a commercial spacecraft has touched down on the moon and Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell provided innovation that helped to make it possible for Intuitive Machines and its Odysseus IM-1 lander, shared Brittney Swartz. The local engineering, construction and architecture firm served as the designer and builder of Intuitive Machines’…
Why developers say folding Plexpod Westport site into Park 39 unifies $230M project
A move this week to transition management of the Plexpod Westport space to the developers behind a massive project along 39th Street will mean reuniting elements within the broader Park 39 campus, said Andrew Brain. “By unifying our actions on both sides of the street, we’re able to act as a whole instead of as…